AAMC Practice tests = legit?

[bubbachuck]

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Are the AAMC practice tests (i think up to 9 are now released) the actual tests administered or are they compilations of administered problems? It seems that they appear not to be the actual tests because when I take them, there's no indication of the date. Also, since its called a "practice test", I doesn't seem legit either. Is there a way to get a hold of past administered exams if this is the case?

 

[frany584]

Originally posted by bubbachuck
Are the AAMC practice tests (i think up to 9 are now released) the actual tests administered or are they compilations of administered problems? It seems that they appear not to be the actual tests because when I take them, there's no indication of the date. Also, since its called a "practice test", I doesn't seem legit either. Is there a way to get a hold of past administered exams if this is the case?

The AAMC practice tests are apparently older tests (i think possibly released in the 80s but not totally positive?) that have been revised for practice purposes. i'm not sure if u could legally get access to actual exams administered in the past, but I think the AAMC tests are still good practice for the real thing.

 

[sikoma]

this might be a little off-topic but ill ask anyway

ive done the AAMC verbal practice items and AAMC verbal practice tests available at kaplan

i didnt think they were too difficult and i did fairly well on those
i recently started working on the verbal section tests (pdf files) available on the kaplan website and i found the passages/questions to be extremely difficult...

are the tests offered by AAMC representative of the actual MCAT VR questions?
are the kaplan VR section tests supposed to be more difficult than the actual mcat questions/passages?

 

[bubbachuck]

thanks for the info gujuDoc...i also found info from aamc.org here: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/ptfaqs.htm

could someone clarify the difference between the different forms? also i heard there are experimental portions of th exam, similar to that extra section on the SATs (the old ones at least).

 

[Hotbodmatt]

Hey, I was really concerned about the accuracy of the practice tests. I took 13 of them though and averaged a 31.2. What did I score in April? 31. Hehe. As for the AAMC exams compared to the real one, this is how I did:
PS V BS
AAMC 5: 13 9 10
AAMC 4R: 12 8 11
AAMC 6: 13 9 10
AAMC 7: 14 10 12

April MCAT: 13 9 9

I definitely was a bit down about the BS, but the V could have been worse!!! Anyhow, I remember obsessing about whether the practice tests were reliable indicators, so I wanted to encourage you and tell you that I think they are. My advice would be to do at least 7 kaplan practice tests, 4-5 AAMC tests, and 2 PR tests.

Good Luck!

 

[blee]

Aside from some basic science review, my MCAT preparation consisted almost solely of AAMC tests. I bought a Kaplan book from B&N with two practice tests and took those as well. My actual score last April was equal to my highest AAMC score and one point lower than my highest store-bought Kaplan score. I made sure to take the practice tests under realistic conditions, but if I finished a section early I didn't wait around for the allotted time period to end; I just went to the bathroom and started the next section.